Confused about ship time vs. local time

[NateUpNorth]

13 hours ago, hrmkr said:

We are sailing on the Freedom of the Seas on Dec 1.

 

When we port in Curacao, we are scheduled to arrive at 8:00 AM.  Is that ship time or local time?  Does the ship time change to match the port time?

 

We are taking Irie Tours and they said that the tour begins at 9:00 AM local time.  Does that mean we have 1 hour once the ship arrives?  I wanted to be safe than sorry and not miss this tour nor any other tour we have scheduled. 

 

thank you

 

I believe info from cruise lines is intentionally vague pre-cruise to frustrate people trying to book with local tour operators instead of the activities desk.

 

What I've stated to do is google the port authority of whatever port you are visting and seeing the docking schedule for your ship. THAT'S the time I use when communicating with local providers. If they say the tour starts at 9AM, it'll be local time. I'm pretty confident they don't keep track of which lines are using "ship time" and which are not.

 

Edited June 21, 2019 by NateUpNorth

[CRUISEFAN0001]

3 minutes ago, fscool said:

I guess I may be causing confusion with my posts but my problem was this.  When it was 12:00pm (noon) in Galveston, as soon as I boarded and connected to the wifi, my phone and watch flipped to 6:00pm.  This was either due to a mis-configured wifi router or could that be because the ship was using UTC as the Ship Time?  In any event, it made it somewhat complicated to keep track of what the actual time was.

 

Now, I know how to change my settings to not auto update the time.  But that was a pain....

Thanks for your added information and clarification. There are settings on phones and other devices that allow the user to select the reference time preferred (local time, time zone you're in, etc.).  If it's set to "auto select"...yeah...you could get a false base time reference.

[pnsnkr]

The Royal Caribbean app also displays the Ship Time.  

[Joseph2017China]

1 hour ago, maryred said:

The only problem here is if visiting 3-4 ports in 1 week do you really want the possibility of changing your watch each day?Especially if all the ports use different times (observe or not observe DST, or do so on the Euro which differs from the USA change over date).

A good private tour company that caters to cruise passengers as opposed to one that prefers resort/hotel guests will communicate with you in terms like the tour starts 1 hour after your ship's scheduled docking time if you ask them to. And there is a reason why most online excursion consolidation companies ask what ship are you arriving on, because they don't want to have to offer a refund or catch-up transport, if the ship gets in after the tour starts (or too close for you to get to the meeting point from your dock) or will end after your ship leaves.

My last two major cruises, I changed my clock based on the daily announcements in my stateroom, and on the planner, and on the app.  The reason for my comment is for several reasons. 

 

First, many people are already on different time zones when they go on a cruise.  Example, if you fly, you may have "changed" your clock 2 or 3 times already depending on your layovers. 

 

Two, the whole idea of ship time, was because in the Caribbean, in the "olden days", tours were mostly done by the ship, not privately.  Since this is different now, it becomes more trouble coordinating between tours. 

 

Three, the island, the people, and the clocks you see all have one time on it, which is different than "your time".  Can lead to confusion easily when you are doing things on your own. 

 

Four, your bodies are already adjusting to "vacation time" which is stay up late at night, get up at random times. 

 

Five, the clock is just a method to know when you need to be someplace.  Changing it 2 times on a cruise, going forward than backward doesn't change the actual day for you based on the activities.  So the ship arrives at 8:00 ship time or 9:00 local time, you will get up at the time that is best for getting off the ship, regardless of what the clock says.  You are on vacation time, and just follow the clock.

 

So the point is, with modern technology, phones, gps watches etc, and the fact majority of people do their own thing, I think it's time for a change, and just follow the real time

[SRF]

3 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

One of the greatest mysteries of all time, is why they still follow a policy of ship time.  It requires people to be confused as they are visiting areas with multiple times.  Clock in the store says one thing, your phone says another, unless you remembered to turn off auto updates.  Maybe you have a watch, but some of them use GPS time clocks.  Outside of the Caribbean, the clock is always set at the local time. 

 

Let's bring all ships current and the policy changed.

 

Because you can end up with the situation of changing the time on the ship one night, and changing it back the next.

 

Many people will screw that up.

[SRF]

I have found that tour operators deal well with the time.  They wait until the ship shows up, and some time after before the leave.  And they know what time the ship will depart to have to back.

 

It is in their best interest to do so.

[pnsnkr]

Regarding change proposals, while at it, let's also propose to get rid of daylight savings time.

[biomedbob]

I finally responded to a topic that didn't get me kicked off Cruise Critic!

[Joseph2017China]

1 hour ago, pnsnkr said:

Regarding change proposals, while at it, let's also propose to get rid of daylight savings time.

That's already been proposed in Congress.  Florida proposed it for the state, and it passed.  It's in Congress now.  They did amend the proposal to include all states.  So nice idea, but it already been done!!!!!!!

[CanadaRob]

Found the best solution here on CC a while back, as long as you make your tour in the AM set a timer on your phone for however many hours you want to get in time to get back comfortably(this differs from spouse to spouse)

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, CanadaRob said:

Found the best solution here on CC a while back, as long as you make your tour in the AM set a timer on your phone for however many hours you want to get in time to get back comfortably(this differs from spouse to spouse)

 

Just make sure the time setting on the phone is manual and not automatic.

[CanadaRob]

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Just make sure the time setting on the phone is manual and not automatic.

I just set a timer for 7 hours(my wife insists on 5 1/2 or 6) and when buzzer goes off we should be on the ship or close. 

[SRF]

4 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

That's already been proposed in Congress.  Florida proposed it for the state, and it passed.  It's in Congress now.  They did amend the proposal to include all states.  So nice idea, but it already been done!!!!!!!

 

I would rather see full year DST.  Sunlight time in the morning doesn't do my any good.

[SRF]

4 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Just make sure the time setting on the phone is manual and not automatic.

 

Timer does not use current time.  Just elapsed time from when you started it.

 

A stopwatch.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

1 hour ago, SRF said:

 

Timer does not use current time.  Just elapsed time from when you started it.

 

A stopwatch.

When the big hand is on the 12....and little hand on the 8...it’s 8:00.

[SRF]

20 hours ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

When the big hand is on the 12....and little hand on the 8...it’s 8:00.

 

Not for a timer or stop watch. 😄

 

 

[Seville2Cabo]

20 hours ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

When the big hand is on the 12....and little hand on the 8...it’s 8:00.

I didn't think anyone had watches with hands anymore.  I do, but seems everyone else has a smart watch.  

 

Not sure what the issues is with the time - read the daily planner.  

[biomedbob]

The daily planner is left on your bed and suggests that you advance or retreat you watch tonight.  It is referencing tomorrow's tonight.  So if you take it literally........You'll probably miss breakfast!

 

[pnsnkr]

11 minutes ago, biomedbob said:

The daily planner is left on your bed and suggests that you advance or retreat you watch tonight.  It is referencing tomorrow's tonight.  So if you take it literally........You'll probably miss breakfast!

 

 

Very good point,  but this is not why we always end up missing breakfast...everyday.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

6 hours ago, SRF said:

 

Not for a timer or stop watch. 😄

 

Tick tock.  Unfortunately we've seen a generation or two that can't tell time without a digital display.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

6 hours ago, Seville2Cabo said:

I didn't think anyone had watches with hands anymore.  I do, but seems everyone else has a smart watch.  

 

Not sure what the issues is with the time - read the daily planner.  

In our family...we have more than 15 watches - all with hands.  We can write cursive too. All skills being lost in today's world of instant gratification. 😁

 

 

 

[nalrudaini]

I add clock widgets on my phone that are not linked to network.  Last year I had 2, HOME widget and SHIP TIME widget.  Worked perfectly for me when I went to Cozumel (which was an hour behind).

 

By just looking at the home screen, I will know the local time, time at home and time on ship. 

[CRUISEFAN0001]

4 hours ago, nalrudaini said:

I add clock widgets on my phone that are not linked to network.  Last year I had 2, HOME widget and SHIP TIME widget.  Worked perfectly for me when I went to Cozumel (which was an hour behind).

 

By just looking at the home screen, I will know the local time, time at home and time on ship. 

Oh yeah...thanks...the answer to the original post could easily have simply been "there's an app for that". 🤣

[biomedbob]

I'm on a cruise.......don't need any times other than when to be back before sailing!

[ONECRUISER]

On 6/21/2019 at 5:34 PM, SRF said:

 

I would rather see full year DST.  Sunlight time in the morning doesn't do my any good.

Agree but everywhere, hate when Sun comes up before 5am and birds are chirping even earlier. But, where I'm at now Sun doesn't set and isn't dark until 10pm. Drive In movie doesn't start until 10:15pm. Guess either way can't win...

Edited June 23, 2019 by ONECRUISER